Fixed & Broken
by Modern Physics
Summary: This isn't the first time Charlotte's sprained her ankle.


She's rummaging around for something in the makeshift pantry on the beach. Plastic bags rustle and cardboard boxes tumble down like disturbed dominoes. She mumbles a few choice swear words and positions the provisions back rather swiftly. It was getting darker by the minute, much faster than it did back when she was home. Not that she particularly minded, but still. It was another difference she would, in time, get used to.

She had no idea where the medicine was kept. For all she knew it could be hidden somewhere off of the beach, in which case she'd have to spend another sleepless night twisting and turning in pain. She had twisted her ankle a few days previously after slipping on a patch of moss. She had managed to stay off of it for the majority of the following 48 hours but she never took kind to sitting still for too long. If only she could get some temporary relief she'd manage. She had before.

* * *

"_What's wrong? Charlotte what..."_

"_I'm fine Dan, really. I just... tripped over my own two feet, that's all. You'd think I have grown my sea legs by now. Can you get the first aid kit from the sick bay, yeah?"_

_She rubbed her ankle attempting to apply pressure even though it hurt like hell. She was never the most graceful and of course, being out at sea didn't help matters much. At all._

"_Yeah, of course. I'm on it. You need ice or anything?"_

_She looked at him with a blank look on her face for a few moments before erupting into a laugh._

"_Yes Daniel, that would be lovely. Can you bring me back some peanuts from the mini bar too if you don't mind?"_

_He raised his eyebrows in his usual fashion, not sure if she was a little bit serious or whole lot sarcastic. Her uncharacteristic giggles gave her away in the end._

"_Oh, I get it. Because we're on a boat we don't have ice. Riiiiight."_

_She smiled and continued working on her throbbing ankle._

"_It's not that I don't appreciate the gesture though."_

_He smiled a little smile and nodded slowly before making his way out the door and down the hall._

* * *

She wished she had a first aid kit at her disposal now but her search wasn't turning up anything of value. By now it was pitch black, the only light sources visible were blurred by the tarp over several makeshift campsites. She flicked her flashlight on and decided to make her way back, giving in to another night of agony.

The soft roll of the waves was almost calm until you remembered where you were, how you got there, and the slim chance of ever going back home. It was like a false sense of security until you realized better... she wasn't sure why, but it made her a little angry. This place was pretending to be something it wasn't.

She managed to stand up with the help of a makeshift table, reaching blindly in the dark for a nearby tree to hold on to. She wasn't very far from her tent at all, which was good considering the circumstances. Surprisingly enough her ankle felt a little bit better than the last time she had stood on it and she began her trek on a high note.

She had just made her way past the dying embers of the evening's fire when a familiar voice called out to her from behind.

"Charlotte, is that you?"

The hesitance, nervousness and protectiveness. It couldn't be anyone else.

"Yeah Dan, I'm just heading back. What are you doing out here?"

"Just... hey no, I was going to ask you."

She chuckled softly, stopping for a moment to balance on her good foot and placing her hands on her hips.

"You can ask me after you answer my question."

She couldn't see properly but she knew him well enough to know the exact face he was making.

"I was, uh, taking a walk."

She wobbled a bit in the sand. "Really? Where to?"

"The jungle, you know. I was bored."

The tone of his voice told her otherwise. She decided she was going to have a little fun and she didn't exactly know why. Maybe it was the pain talking in an attempt to take her mind off things... but she wasn't exactly sure.

"Right, because I always go wandering about the jungle in the dark when I've got nothing better to do."

He swallowed quite audibly, apparently nervous.

"Yeah well, I wasn't just walking around for no reason."

She raised her eyebrows in mild interest.

"Do you care to enlighten me about your travels, Dan?"

He laughed now, realizing how foolish this whole scenario was. Charlotte was balancing like a flamingo in the sand, hands on hips, questioning him about an apparent night time jungle adventure he went on by himself. She caught on after a second and began laughing as well, feeling a bit delirious as she did so.

"If you really want to know," he said after a few more moments of shared giggles, "I went looking for one of the Dharma stations figuring there might be a first aid kit in one of them."

Her smile faded and then slowly reappeared. "Oh."

He exhaled slowly and raised a hand up to scratch his head. "...Yeah."

She wasn't used to people looking out for her or having her back. She was always fully capable of taking care of herself and, if absolutely necessary, others. The fact that one other person on this strange, abandoned island cared enough about her to go looking for Aspirin in the middle of the night warmed her heart just a little.

"There's no need of that, Dan. Really. I was looking for stuff here on the beach but there's nothing... must've gotten all used up."

Her good foot was growing tired the more she stood on it. He noticed and glanced at it with a curious expression.

"Worth a shot though. I'll go look first thing in the morning when there's more light. My flashlight battery died so... it would have been pretty pointless to keep looking now."

She looked at him with intense gratitude and smiled.

"I wouldn't want you to get eaten by boars on account of me, either."

He laughed softly, taking a few steps closer to offer her his hand.

"That's very thoughtful of you. I appreciate it."

She smiled whole heartedly and took his extended hand, lowering her sprained foot slowly to the sand gingerly, knowing full well she wouldn't be able to walk properly for another few days. She flung her arm around his shoulder as he put his around her waist as they made their way back to the tents.

* * *

"_Okay, I couldn't find the first aid kid but I found some electrical tape, cotton balls and umm... hydrogen peroxide."_

_She raised an eyebrow in question as he stood in her doorway holding the afore mentioned items._

"_Dan," she said quietly, "umm, did you ever take a first aid course?"_

_He walked in the room and laid the things out on her bunk._

"_No, is it obvious?"_

_She grinned. "Painfully so. I thought it was mandatory to take one before we boarded this thing?"_

_A confused look appeared on his face. "...no one told me about that..."_

_She waved it off and began looking at the supplies he brought._

"_No matter now anyway."_

_He picked up the electrical tape and turned it over in his hands._

"_Can't you use this to make some sort of... I don't know, thing to keep the swelling down?"_

_She didn't bother offering the correct terminology, instead she just nodded slowly and looked at him with a curious expression._

"_I.... actually, you know what would be a better idea? Reach in that top drawer over there and pass me the blue shirt."_

"_...Okay." He stood up and walked a few feet over to the aluminum dresser, pulling the top drawer out and rummaging around until he found the blue shirt in question._

"_Now," she said somewhat sternly, "I want you to tie it around my ankle. It's not really proper but I think it'll do for now until we can locate the missing first aid kit."_

_He looked at her, then the shirt, then back to her._

"_Are you sure?"_

_He looked absolutely terrified, like he was about to do an extremely risky live saving operation._

"_Daniel, seriously, this is not a big deal. Go ahead."_

_He winced a little, perhaps at the thought of hurting her already bruised ankle._

"_How tight should it be? Because I don't want to cut off the circulation or anything like that."_

_She groaned and yanked the shirt out of his hands._

"_Fine, I'll do it. Thanks."_

_A relieved frown, although still for the most part just a frown, appeared on his face._

"_I can do it."_

_She looked up, about to tie the knot snug against her skin._

"_What?"_

_He moved closer and pulled at the corners of the faded cotton, managing to create a satisfactory knot. The curious expression remained on her face as she glanced at him sideways, an unusual determination in his features as he smoothed the ends of the knot down._

"_There," he said finally, "Ta-da."_

_She laughed and punched him playfully in the arm. "Congrats Dan, you're not as useless as you look."_

_If he didn't know better he would have took it as an insult. Thankfully, he knew all too well._


End file.
